Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 Tomb & Coping Owners Association
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LCTC's Mission in Pictures

What are the Problems?
Degradation of Cemetery's Purpose
Exploitation of the Deceased for Personal Profit
Non-historic and Macabre Filming
Non-historic and Macabre Tour Narratives

Unregulated, Aggressive Tour Guides and Vendors
Vandalism and Desecration of Tombs
​Harassment of Families
Overcrowding and Overtourism
Damage to Historic and Fragile Infrastructure
Repair and Maintenance Needs
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Hover over the pictures in each section below to see their individual captions. Click on photo to view in larger size.
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Non-historic and Macabre Filming:
Film crew standing on coping and grave in Lafayette No. 1. The crews and equipment prevent families from visiting their loved ones' graves and irreparably damage infrastructure. This scene of a voodoo murder contributes to out-of-control voodoo and haunted tours and to the emboldened disrespect shown below. (photo imbd.com)
Easy Rider drug scene on top of tombs
Horrific scene of man attempting to bury his wife alive in Lafayette No. 1. The movie tomb is fake, but not the surrounding ones. Decades after the film and removal of the set, film site tours surround these families on every visit to their loved ones' graves. (screenshot youtube.com)
Film scenes of desecration feed the horror tours shown below (photo ew.com)
​Filming exploits and degrades the cemetery's purpose,
drawing large, non-historical tours to its locations long after the film or TV show has come and gone.
Both the actual filming and the decades of ghoulish tours and tourist abuse it feeds
​​​severely harm the cemetery's purpose and damage its fragile infrastructure.
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​Disrespectful, Copy-cat Behavior:
Tourists copying what they see in films, on TV and online, climb onto and even into Lafayette No. 1's tombs. (geocities.ws web image)
Copycat posing on top of a grave in Lafayette No. 1. (yelp.com web image)
More copycat posing inside a Lafayette No. 1 tomb. (web image)
Filming and non-historical tours feed copy-cat behavior, mocking the deceased and further damaging fragile tombs and copings.
​
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​Intrusive, Aggresive Tours with Macabre Narratives:
Guide in clown costume allowing tour group to take selfies on top of coping
Tour guide stands on coping as large tour group surrounds families on All Saints' Day. A tourist in this group told family members trying to visit a recent grave to bury their loved ones somewhere else.
Voodoo, vampire and haunted tours, with guides often in costume, exploit and desecrate Lafayette No. 1
Tour Guides in costume frequently stand on copings shouting spiels about ghosts, vampires, voodoo and horror movie scenes.
They surround families trying to visit loved ones' graves and often include the bereaved as props in their narratives.
​Entertainment and profit motives threaten the cemetery's sacred purpose as a resting place for the deceased.
​
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​Vandalism and Desecration:
Vandalized and desecrated tombs. Bricks pulled off to view and film remains inside.
Remains filmed and posted to YouTube and Yelp. (Obscured out of respect for the deceased for publication on this website.)
Tomb with large, fronting marble tablet yanked off and shattered by tourist (see section beow), exposing vault - Summer 2019
Vandalism and desecration of tombs plague Lafayette No. 1.
Films, haunted tours, non-historical narratives and a lack of any oversight or enforcement embolden disrespect.

​
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​Overcrowding and Overtourism:
Increase from about 200 to almost 3,000 per day in last few years with no security or supervision. (web image)
Crumbling coping due to damage and abuse
Innocent tourism? These yanked off the tablet shown in the section above, destroying it. They continued touring cemetery and then left town.
Visitors exponentially increased in recent years from about 200 to almost 3,000 per day.
Overcrowding and no security
 or supervision of visitors
 lead to more damage of fragile infrastructure.
The couple in the photo above continued to nonchalantly tour Lafayette No. 1 after shattering the tablet shown in the section above. Only the quick thinking of a nearby witness documented this particular incident. More often than not, the damage is unreported.

​
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​Repair and Maintenance Needs:
Fragile tombs and copings in need of repair
Walkways damaged by excessive foot traffic and invasive roots.
Invasive trees, roots and encroaching vegetation cause extensive damage to tombs, copings and walkways.
Tomb in photo to left was demolished by the city in its entirety in early 2023. Years of neglect allowed an invasive tree to slowly take over culminating, sadly, in the tomb's complete removal. Vegetation overgrowth all over the cemetery threatens many other structures
​Serious repair and maintenance needs are evident throughout the cemetery.
​
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What are the Solutions?
Meeting with City Department Directors
Meeting with City Council Members
​Presenting before Community Development Committee and Entire City Council
Participating in City Hall Initiative to Fix Systemic Problems
Advocating for Adequate Regulations, Enforcement, Maintenance and Security
Meeting face to face with city department directors (photo roadtrippers.com)
Meeting face to face with City Council members (photo nola.gov)
Council members Jay Banks and Kristin Palmer respond to LCTC presentation before Community Development Committee, 6.4.19 (photos fox8live.com)
LCTC board member presents a statement on behalf of Lafayette No. 1 families at the New Orleans City Council's regular meeting on August 4, 2022
What are the Goals?​
A place for our loved ones to rest in peace
A place for families and guests to visit in peace
Protection and dignity for those buried here
Accurate portrayal of history
​Proper protection and maintenance of historic site
Making it possible for families to honor loved ones in peace and with dignity - All Saints' Day 2019
Helping plot owners with resources and support - Vandalized tomb after repair, November 2019
Supporting families in caring for their loved ones resting places - LCTC Family Clean-up Day 2022
A place of dignity and peace
Restoring Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 to its sole purpose as a cemetery,
​a sacred place for the deceased to rest in peace.
Photos property of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 Tomb and Coping Owners Association unless otherwise noted.
Copyright
© 2019-2025
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lafayette cemetery no. 1 tomb and coping owners association

Photos and documents are property of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 Tomb and Coping Owners Association unless otherwise noted.
​
​LAFAYETTE CEMETERY NO. 1 TOMB & COPING OWNERS ASSOCIATION
© ​Copyright  2019 - 2025
  • Home
  • History
  • About Us
  • Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • News & Notices
  • FAQs about LCTC
  • FAQs about Cemetery Closure
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  • LCTC Associate Resources Log-in
  • LCTC Associate Gallery Log-in
  • Articles Archive Log-in
  • Newsletters Archive Log-in
  • Cemetery Regulations Archive Log-in